The root cause, of scarcity, is a lack of trust.
A lack of trust actually creates stuckness in scarcity situations.
Resisting This Reality
A common pattern among people who feel stuck in scarcity is a resistance to accepting what they're currently getting from life. They resist financial pressure, debt, and the scarcity experience in general. They resist their own feelings (like the feeling that it's time to quit doing soul-less work) and lean too much on external authorities. They resist following a unique path, mistakenly believe that they need to validate their heart-based paths with money, success, or fame to justify pursuing what they enjoy, as if they have something to prove.
This last one can be especially challenging for creative types like artists and musicians and folks whose creative drive is thwarted, whereby the need for validation leads to stuckness and releasing this need restores the flow.
When life is resisted, the deflector shields go up, and so much energy that could be used for creativity and growth gets diverted into resisting some aspect of one's present reality.
Regarding financial scarcity alone, here are some of the words and phrases folks use to describe this mindset: stuck, trapped in a hole in a pit, an abyss, in debt up to my eyeballs, sick of it burnt out, bogged down, buried, trapped in a scarcity bubble, tired, exhausted, drained if energy, not enough, worried, pressured, unhealthy, stressful.
These imply a threatening situation and the natural response to a threat is to resist.
I used similar terns when I navigated through some tough financial straits. Then my mindset shifted. Ever since then I no longer perceive scarcity as a threat.
Resisting Your Feelings
Others perceive scarcity a bit differently, using emotional terms like these: bored, impatient, inconsistent, plateau'd out, uncertain of a better plans, self-sabotage, procrastination, hard to advance, not worth it, know what I need to do but not doing it, it's hard to maintain, going through the motions, barely trying, repeated dissatisfaction where something greater is possible, need a different direction, alternatives seem risky, other people think I'm doing fine but something is missing, need more discipline.
What's the pattern here? In this case scarcity isn't perceived so much as a direct threat. It's more of a low level annoying hum in the background that keeps nagging at you.
The people who get stuck in this type of scarcity are often those you might describe as being "stuck in their heads." They're often very practical and grounded people, but what's missing is the fire and passion that adds depth and sparkle to their days. This group is heavily populated with software developers, lawyers, accountants, business persons and other people who do lots of very objective work.
They're often well-paid, and therein lies the trap. They get attached to maintaining their income streams even as their work feels increasingly soulless over time. This isn't to say that all people in these career paths feel stuck; many enjoy their work just fine. But when you are stuck in this type of scarcity, a high income can be worse than a low one, making it harder for many people to transition to something more heart aligned.
They think they've built something that needs to be defending, even though their current castle and keep isn't making them happy. They have overvalued the objective.
A path out of this form of stuckness is actually through recreation and agenda-free exploration, learning, and growth. It's a way to bypass the deflector shield of this group.